This is our brand book - an effective communication tool
to help maintain a strong visual aesthetic of our company to our
customers and clients. By following this manual you help them
recognize, differentiate, and remember us. In some cases, this
manual provides explicit rules on how to use - and how not to
use - various elements. But overall, it offers a framework for
making and evaluating creative decisions.

Conten

nts

8

Company O ve r v iew

9

H istor y

10

Mission State me n t

11

New B ran d A rch ite ctu re

12

Why Re -bran d?

13

Compe titor s

14

Re se arch

18

S olu tion

28

Station e r y

29

In te r n al Lau n ch

30

E xte r n al Mar ke tin g

32

E nv iron me n tal G raph ic

34

Misc. Logo A pplication

Guitar Center, Inc., is the leading retailer of musical instruments
in the United States, selling guitars, amplifiers, percussion
instruments, keyboards, and professional audio and recording
equipment. The company operates a chain of 122 stores,
maintaining a presence in 45 major markets and in 15 secondary

Company
Overview

markets. Guitar Center operates online through Musicianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Friend,
a mail-order and e-commerce retailer of musical instruments.
The company also operates a chain of approximately 20 musical
instrument stores called American Music. Management foresees
Guitar Center eventually developing into a chain of 160 large,
â&#x20AC;&#x153;big-boxâ&#x20AC;? stores and 160 smaller stores. Recently, Guitar Center has
operated GC Garage which offers professional guitar repair service,
GC Pro and GC Studios for recording studio related services.

Indianapolis, Indiana, the largest facility in the industry; sales surpass $1
billion for the first time.
2004: The GCP Pro sales division is formed to serve the commercial
recording market.
2005: Guitar Center, Inc., started The Guitar Center Music Foundation, a
nonprofit organization that supports music education.
2006: Activision partnered with Guitar Center. All purchases made during
game play of Guitar Hero, beginning with the second installment, are made
in a virtual Guitar Center store.
2007: Guitar Center agreed to $1.9 billion buyout from Bain Capital

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brand manual

9

Our goal in the retail stores business is to continue to expand our
position as the leading music products retailer in the United States.
We plan to increase our presence in existing markets and open new
stores in strategically selected markets. We will continue to pursue

mission
statement

a strategy of clustering stores in major markets to take advantage
of operating and advertising efficiencies and to build awareness of
our Guitar Center and American Music brand names in new markets
Moreover, we are committed to provide affordable, low-priced
music instruments as well as professional quality services for
people of all ages who a passion for music and want to make it
their career. Music education for local music communities is also
one of our priorities. We want to offer people a chance to learn
and play music without compromising their finance.

10

guitar center
brand manual

FUN
ENERGETIC

PASSION
PROFESSIONAL

HAPPY
PERSONAL

EFFICIENT

Music is an important part of life. Playing music is a desire, a passion
to some people. The new Guitar Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand architecture will be
built upon our committment to provide affordable music instruments

new brand
architecture

and related professional services. We want to create an happy, fun,
energetic yet professional and efficient environment for every Guitar
Center store. Our customers will be treated as our close friends with
whom we share the same passion for music. Every trip they make to
a Guitar Center store should be a fun trip filled with happy feelings
whether they get a good deal, a great CD, a new guitar, or learn new
things about music from our knowledgable staffs. They should have
fun while theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in our stores. The new Guitar Center brand will
focus more on customer services, our store environment, and also
sharing our passion for music to our customers.

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brand manual

11

competitors

12

guitar center
brand manual

As the leading retailer of musical instruments in the US, the
current identity reflects poorly the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position in the
industry. It is outdated and conservative. Guitar Center is in
a position where the brand equity is significantly strong, but
the image it portrays has grown old. It has come to a time

why
re-brand?

where the Guitar Center brand needs to step into the modern
age, refresh ourselves, and continute to provide and build
upon the services we already offer. We need to stay relevant
in order to grow bigger, and better.

Clear Space
Keep the logo area clear of distracting elementsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;e.g., type,
illustration, textured background. When the logo overprints a
photograph, make sure the contrast against the background is
sufficient for the logo to be read clearly.

clear space
minimum size

Minimum Size
The width of the lockup should never be smaller than 1.5 inch in order
to maintain the legibility of our identity.

20

guitar center
brand manual

one-color
signatures

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brand manual

21

In order to maintain a consistent visual identity of the company
for our divisions, here are the approved signatures for GC Garage,
GC Studios, and GC Pro. These signatures carry our corporate
logo mark to reinforce the brand identity and are color coded to
differentiate themselves.

divisions
signatures

22

guitar center
brand manual

We have adopted a new typeface to represent Guitar Center as a
whole; Gotham. This font family is flexible and can work across all
media. We chose Gotham because of its sophistication but simple
and modern look. We want to be accessible to all demographics
and we believe that Gotham is something people can recognize as
fresh and contemporary.

With no intention of disregarding the entire current identity, we want to
incorporate part of it into the new logo, hence the new “Passion Red” color.
It’s not too intense and conservative like the old red, it’s more refreshing,
welcoming, contemporary which reflects our company’s new image.

signature
color

24

guitar center
brand manual

Main Colors

Divisions Colors

Pantone DS 333-9 U

Pantone DS 294-1 U

CMYK : 3/0/0/20

CMYK : 50/0/100/0

RGB: 201/207/212

RGB: 141/198/63

Pantone DS 90-1 U

Pantone DS 239-4 U

CMYK: 0/100/80/0

CMYK : 75/0/15/0

RGB: 237/26/59

RGB: 0/187/214

Pantone Process Black

Pantone DS 60-1 U

CMYK: 0/0/0/100

CMYK : 0/90/100/0

RGB: 0/0/0

RGB: 239/65/35

Passion is an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire
for something. At Guitar Center, we believe all of our customers have a
passion for music and desire to play music passionately. We believe that
passion is what drives you to success in your music career. That’s why
one of our important company missions is to provide affordable musical
instrument which encourage everyone to “play with passion”
slogan

PLAY
WITH
PASSION

PLAY
WITH
PASSION

The slogan can either stand alone or accompanied by our corporate logo
mark. The slogan is set in Gotham Rounded Italic with a custom -5° skew.

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brand manual

25

Guitar Center imagery is vibrant, always a sharp focus and
composed with an interesting and inviting. The imagery should
provide positive feeling, happy mood, and a sense of passion for
music like these examples below:

imagery

26

guitar center
brand manual

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brand manual

27

Die-cut guitar pick shaped businesss card to reinforce the consistency
of the new brand identity while promote the company’s new image
which is about music, fun, personal, and passion.